Hot on the heels of September’s hand cream freebie, The Body Shop is going all out to draw shoppers in. If you popped into a bricks-and-mortar store for the first time in a while when you picked up your free hand cream, what did you think of it? Having visited a couple of Body Shop stores this year, one on a paid mystery shopping exercise and the other on a panic-buying mission (I was asked onto BBC News to talk about the Budget and didn’t have any lipstick – the horror!) I have been pleasantly surprised.

A lot has changed: the decor, the atmosphere and the products themselves. Some old favourites have been brought back, such as the gorgeous banana hair conditioner. There are some good-looking new ranges. The make-up has stepped up a few notches in quality, in my opinion. The packaging has had an overhaul.

Anyway, if you are planning on buying toiletries or beauty products as Christmas presents this year, I recommend that you take a look. The Body Shop also has a good online store.

Now is a good time to stock up on Body Shop products, because of the various sales and offers that are running. Here are my three top ways to get between 40% and 50% off your Body Shop bill:

1. The Body Shop sale: up to 50% off. The Body Shop sale is now in its final week, with discounts of up to 50% on a wide range of products. There are lots of items reduced to less than £10 and £5. There is also a selection of goodies reduced to less than £3, if you are looking for little openers for Christmas Day:

3. FOR IN-STORE SHOPPERS. Groupon voucher: spend £15 and receive a £30 voucher to spend in-store. I don’t often feature Groupon deals, but I do when they are good’uns!

As you can see, this deal is already proving popular at the time of writing. Up to five £30 vouchers can be purchased per person, but do note that the vouchers cannot be used to buy gift sets, gift cards or sale products. You will also receive a Body Shop Love Your Body membership card, which usually costs £5 and entitles you to additional discounts and offers.

The Groupon deal isn’t open for long, and you have to purchase your voucher before the clock strikes midnight on Saturday night. The £30 voucher will then be sent to you and will be valid until 30 November 2013.Find the Groupon voucher deal here.

I hope that there is something here for everyone: whether you prefer to shop online or in person, there are deals to be had. Something tells me that a lot of people are going to be opening Body Shop presents come Christmas Day…

meet miss thrifty

Miss Thrifty is a woman on a mission. She lives in Greater Manchester, UK, and never pays full price for anything. Spend less, live within your means and get out of debt - without resorting to recycling teabags. Read more >